Shelley Dufresne is accused of having sex with the underage student in the parish.

She is also accused in a similar incident with another teacher with the same teen in Jefferson Parish. Dufresne, 32, and the other teacher, 24-year-old Rachel Respess, were arrested on allegations the three had a sexual encounter with the teen at Respess’ home in Kenner. The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office is handling that case.

In St. Charles Parish, Dufresne’s father is one of three elected judges.

St. Charles Parish District Attorney Joel Chaisson told WDSU that he assigned a special prosecutor to the case with no ties to St. Charles Parish.

The prosecutor, Julie Cullen, is a longtime assistant attorney general, who has handled numerous high-profile cases over the past decade.

She’ll prosecute the felony charges against Dufresne in St. Charles Parish.

“I have assigned this case to veteran prosecutor Julie Cullen, who for the past 37 years has handled high-profile sex and other serious crimes in this state as both an assistant attorney general and assistant district attorney in various jurisdictions,” Chaisson said in a statement. “Ms. Cullen, a resident of Baton Rouge, has no personal or family connections in St. Charles Parish. I have complete confidence in Ms. Cullen's ability to handle this matter in a manner that serves the interests of justice.”

Legal analyst Robert Jenkins said there shouldn’t be an issue with the case now.

“She's going to be on top of it and do a good job for the state,” Jenkins said. “The fact of the matter is, she's thorough and is excellent in her work. And the fact that (Chaisson) is not recusing his office -- I don’t see an issue with it.”